flower

Sports Illustrated Nutrition Plant-Based Omega-3 with Ahiflower

The professional-grade supplements are for active individuals who are seeking a healthy lifestyle. In addition to the vegan omega-3 Ahiflower oil, the product line features performance products, pre- and post-workout support, a whey protein isolate, collagen + enzymes, and other formulas that focus on other areas of wellness such as brain and joint health.




flower

amaí’s Sparkling Hibiscus Flower Water

Packed with antioxidants to combat oxidative stress and thereby enhance immune function, amaí’s Sparkling Hibiscus Flower Water offers a guilt-free way to stay hydrated, according to the company.




flower

Plant of the Mother of God: What is the competitor of the queen of flowers - the rose?

Rose has always been considered one of the most beautiful and popular flowers, belonging to the queen of flowers. However, there is a rival in the world that has won the hearts of many beauty connoisseurs, and that is the peony. Cultivated varieties of peonies are well known to florists, gardeners, and landscape design professionals. At the same time, wild peonies, which are no less impressive, are not as well known and not as popular. As for Russia, 15 species of wild peonies can be found here. Peonies have been famous for their unique beauty for many centuries and are often mentioned in legends and myths. One such legend is associated with the goddess Flora. The legend says that when the goddess was preparing to go on a long journey, she ordered her subordinates to find a worthy replacement for her. Many thought that the only possible substitute for Flora could be the beautiful rose. It was to her that the goddess entrusted the leadership of the plant kingdom. But only the peony opposed this divine decision, not recognizing the rose as its superior competitor. In response to the protests and disrespectful behavior of the peony, the goddess expressed her anger in a rage: "Let butterflies and bees never visit you!" In Russia, peonies grow in the Far East, Transbaikalia, the middle strip, and the Caucasus. In May-June, peony flowers begin to bloom, emitting a sweet substance that attracts ants and other insects. Ants often protect the plant from pests, acting as its defenders. Thus, peonies were able to bypass the curse of the goddess Flora!




flower

Discovery of 2,586 Orphan Genes in Rosa Chinensis Provides Insights Into Stress Adaptation and Flower Development

A research team has identified 2,586 orphan genes (OGs) in Rosa chinensis, offering new insights into the role of these unique genes in flower development, stress response, and environmental adaptation.




flower

Discovery of 2,586 Orphan Genes in Rosa Chinensis Provides Insights Into Stress Adaptation and Flower Development

A research team has identified 2,586 orphan genes (OGs) in Rosa chinensis, offering new insights into the role of these unique genes in flower development, stress response, and environmental adaptation.




flower

Flowers Foods acquires Roman Meal trademark

Flowers Foods will use the trademark in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Bahamas.




flower

Flowers Foods debuts 11 new products

The varied innovations include protein bars, smaller-sized loaves, breakfast items, flatbreads, and a new keto bun, among others, reflecting the company’s ongoing commitment to developing new and differentiated products across its portfolio.




flower

Red Bull Summer Edition Curuba Elderflower

Red Bull is celebrating the season with the introduction of its newest flavor: Red Bull Summer Edition Curuba Elderflower. 




flower

amaí’s Sparkling Hibiscus Flower Water

amaí unveiled its Sparkling Hibiscus Flower Water, crafted from organic hibiscus flowers to support heart health, reduce blood pressure and improve digestion, it says.




flower

Andre Soares Unveils "The Sunflower Protocol": A Time-Traveling Romance Set to Redefine Thrillers

With an exceptional track record as an author, screenwriter, and actor, Andre Soares is gearing up to launch what promises to be his most remarkable work yet.




flower

Sunflowers for Ukraine: Harris Seeds Donates $20,000 to Ukrainian Relief Efforts

Since March, Harris Seeds has been assisting in the Ukrainian relief effort through a new campaign, Sunflowers for Ukraine.




flower

Austin's Got a New Buzz: THC-A Flower at Austin Vape & Smoke!

As one of the first shops in Austin to offer THC-A Flower, the folks at Austin Vape & Smoke are determined to stay on the cutting edge of Texas cannabis.




flower

1935 CBD Launches New Topical Collection Featuring Botanical Ingredients and Flower-Only CBD

1935 CBD, a leading name in premium CBD wellness products, is excited to introduce its latest CBD Topical Collection.




flower

Luminous by Brooke at Heller Jewelers - Celebrating the Full Flower Moon

A night with the Luminous Collection by Brooke Shields and Robert Procop in San Ramon at Heller Jewelers.





flower

The final vow / Amanda Flower.

"Kelsey Cambridge, director of the Barton Farm living history museum, must save the Farm's reputation when a wedding planner is pushed from the bell tower of the Farm's picturesque church"-- Provided by publisher.




flower

The Moth Radio Hour: Punks, Blessings, Burlesque and Lotus Flowers

In this episode, five strangers redefine themselves and family in the face of their past. This episode is hosted by Moth Senior Curatorial Producer, Suzanne Rust. The Moth Radio Hour is produced by The Moth and Jay Allison of Atlantic Public Media

Hosted by: Suzanne Rust

Eddy Laughter sees her future at her first concert.

Christopher Brune-Horan finds sanctuary in an unlikely location.

Louise Newton-Keogh learns an important lesson about controlling the universe.

Pauline Nguyen reconciles with a harbinger of fear.

Denise Bledsoe Slaughter gets a second mother when she needs it most.




flower

Gathering Flowers

Gathering Flowers by Lisa Keene is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition HC of 10 pcs




flower

FLOWER WAGON

FLOWER WAGON by Lladro Black Legacy is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition Of 3000 pcs




flower

PRETTY FLOWERS!

PRETTY FLOWERS! by Lladro Black Legacy is a(n) Open Edition. The Edition is Limited to Open Edition pcs




flower

Picking Flowers

Picking Flowers by James Coleman is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition of 395 pcs




flower

Scientists Identify New Chemical Behind Corpse Flower’s Rotting Smell



  • Life & Non-humans

flower

CAULIPOWER Chooses K3 for its Better-for-you Riced Cauliflower Range

CAULIPOWER’s new, healthy riced cauliflower range is packed in Greiner Packaging’s 100% recyclable, reusable and microwavable K3 cardboard-plastic cup.




flower

New collection: Flower Lace Top with matching Thong

A new collection of Flower Lace Top with matching Thong by MusicLegs®.

Embroided flower lace top with matching lace thong.




flower

New collection: Satin Flower Jacquard Bustier with G-String

A new collection of Bustier by Sensual Mystique®.

Tapestry feeling satin flower jacquard long-line bustier. Comes with lightly padded underwire cups, hook and eye front, body controlling side, front, and back boning plus a waist cinching lace-up back, adjustable garters and matching g-string.




flower

New collection: Flower Slave Bracelet Handflowers With Ring

Fashion slave bracelet-ring handflowers with imitation colored stones inlaid used by harem dancers in medieval time.

This bracelet-ring features a bracelet with dangling chains, connected to a triangular layout of chains and a metal ring that loops over a finger.

You will feel like a princess wearing this exotic bracelet!

Size Guide
  Ring size Medium (diameter 18mm, extendable +5mm).
  See Ring size chart.

  Bracelet fitting wrist 6" to 8½" (adjustable).

Comes with display card.




flower

New collection: Slave Bracelet Handflowers With Ring

Fashion slave bracelet-ring with imitation colored stone inlaid used by harem dancer in medieval time.

This bracelet-ring features a triangular layout of chains connected to a metal ring that loops over a finger.

You will feel like a princess wearing this exotic bracelet!

Size Guide
  Ring size Medium (diameter 18mm, extendable +5mm).
  See Ring size chart.

  Bracelet fitting wrist 6" to 8½" (adjustable).

Comes with display card.




flower

New collection: Slave Bracelet Handflowers With Ring

Fashion slave bracelet-ring handflowers with imitation colored stones inlaid used by harem dancer in medieval time.

This bracelet-ring features a triangular layout of chains and stones connected to a metal ring that loops over a finger. You will feel like a princess wearing this exotic bracelet!

Size Guide
  Ring size Medium (diameter 18mm, extendable +5mm).
  See Ring size chart.

  Bracelet fitting wrist 6" to 8½" (adjustable).

Comes with display card.




flower

New collection: Music Legs Side Flower Trellis Thigh High

Sheer thigh high stockings in black color from Music Legs®.

Wide lace top and side flower trellis design. Comes with a rhinestone at the ankle.

Onesize (5'~5'10", 100~175lbs).




flower

Susanna - Flower Of Evil (Rune Grammofon)

Susanna Wallumrød is a hell of a singer. Over the course of several albums with Morten Qvenild (as Susanna and the Magic Orchestra) and the previous solo release Sonata Mix Dwarf Cosmos, she's done up both original songs and covers with sparse accompaniment, letting her strong vocals lead the way. Flower Of Evil is the second "solo" release from Wallumrød and it again features the usual batch of Rune Grammofon players, including Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent) and Pal Hausken (In The Country). Bonnie "Prince" Billy also appears on a couple songs as well.




flower

Gabriela Domínguez, la mujer detrás del Festival de Cine Seaflower




flower

boye quick start flower loom instructions

torurefi tiponifade sagagogu muteti badonesap potesone bedade.

This item belongs to: data/opensource_media.

This item has files of the following types: Archive BitTorrent, Metadata, Text PDF




flower

The Flower Bar Offering A ‘Unique Twist’

[Written by Stephen Wright] The new Flower Bar on Reid Street, outside the Washington Mall in Hamilton, offers a unique mix of floral-infused cocktails, wine, prosecco and flower arrangements. Steven Faries opened the shop in July with Shane Francis, the director of operations – initially delaying the enterprise because of the Covid-19 pandemic – and […]




flower

Photos & Video: Flower Bar Holds Ribbon Cutting

[Updated with video] The Flower Bar in Hamilton held a grand opening and ribbon cutting event this evening, with the new business offering a unique mix of floral-infused cocktails, flower arrangements, floral workshops more. Steven Faries opened the shop earlier this year, and held their official ribbon-cutting event today. According to Mr Faries, the bar combines a modern, […]




flower

Clarien Donate Flowers To KEMH, Agape House

Clarien Bank donated flowers to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital [KEMH] and Agape House, with “aim to bring joy and hope to the patients, staff, and visitors of the hospital.” A spokesperson said, “Clarien Bank, one of the largest independent integrated financial services organisations in Bermuda, is pleased to announce its recent donation of flowers to […]




flower

Music Video: Sinead The Flower’s ‘Posogo’

Musician Sinead the Flower has released a music video for her 2020 single Posogo, with the song produced by Rian ’8Track’ Williams. Sinead the Flower said, “The vision for Posogo was never small however, it has developed into so much more through the creative process of curating a visual. I originally released this single last year […]




flower

‘Faces Called Flowers: Artists Talk’ On Sept 11

The Bermuda Society of Arts [BSOA] will host its “Faces Called Flowers: Artists Talk” event with artists Keishunda Curtis and Andrea Ottley on Wednesday, September 11 from 5.00pm to 7.00pm on the top floor of City Hall. A spokesperson said, “Faces Called Flowers: Artists Talk with artists Keishunda Curtis and Andrea Ottley. Join the artists […]




flower

Something Different Tonight, Pizza made with a Cauliflower Crust.

Make something special for dinner with this pizza made using cauliflower as the crust. Yes, cauliflower the vegetable.  Cauliflower and Mozzarella cheese are blended, then pre-baked into a crust. Then top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake. This pizza turns out very well and if no-one was watching you, they might not know that they were …




flower

One of my favorite native flowers

Native wine-cups (aka purple poppy mallow) bookends. This is one of my favorite native flower, so particularly pleased with how nicely it shows up in bookends.




flower

One Week E-Book Sale of Vacuum Flowers!!! One Full Week!!!

.

 


Open Road Media, which publishes several of my e-books, has announced a one-week reduction in price of Vacuum Flowers. Starting this October 18 and running through October 25, 2024, it will be available for $1.99. That's in the US only.

So if you're an e-book reader and have been curious about my novel... well, there you are.


And if you don't already know . . .

Vacuum Flowers is what used to be called a Grand Tour of the Solar System. Rebel Elizabeth Mudlark is operating off of stolen wetware and on the run from very dangerous people. She arrives in the inner system on a cometary orbit, which takes her through a great variety of human and post-human societies, including the most dangerous one of all--Earth.

That bit about the cometary orbit is not incidental. Comets enter the Inner System on either a hyperbolic or a parabolic orbit. The one is open, the other closed. I knew that the book would end with Rebel Elizabeth Mudlark standing in the stardocks with a coffin at her feet. But I didn't know if the person within the coffin would be alive or dead or if REM would someday return to the Inner System or was leaving it forever. I only decided that when I came to write the last page.


*




flower

One-Day E-Book Sale of Vacuum Flowers

 .



Once again, one of my e-books will briefly be on sale! Vacuum Flowers will be available in the US for only $1.99. Here's the news from Open Road Media:

Hello,

We are pleased to let you know that the following ebook(s) will be featured in price promotions soon.

ISBN13TitleAuthorPromo TypeCountryStart DateEnd DatePromo Price
9781504036504Vacuum FlowersSwanwick, MichaelORM - Portalist NLUS2024-11-132024-11-13$1.99



Open Road will promote the feature via social media. We hope you can share the deal with your network as well. You can subscribe to the newsletters at the links below so that you will get the direct link to the deal on the day that it appears.

NewsletterLink
  Early Bird Books    Subscribe Now  
The LineupSubscribe Now
The PortalistSubscribe Now
Murder & MayhemSubscribe Now
A Love So TrueSubscribe Now
The ArchiveSubscribe Now
The ReaderSubscribe Now



Please let us know if you have any questions. We are thrilled to be part of this promotion; hope you are too!

Best,
The Open Road Editorial Team


And because you've probably wondered . . .

I've been asked this many times, but the answer is no: I don't have a nude drawing of Gardner Dozois hanging in my living room. It's in the upstairs hallway. Anyway, he's wearing a sheet, so much of him is covered.

Robert Walters posed Gardner as the evil genius Jonaman for one of the illos (back when SF magazines had illustrations) that went with the serialization of Vacuum Flowers in Asimov's, way back when.

It's not the sightliest picture. But it is treasured.


*




flower

Best cut flower varieties for a sustainable home garden

Cut flowers sounded easy when I started gardening. Just plant some flowers and then cut them, right? Well, there is a lot more to it than that. Cut flowers are often grown from specific varieties that tend to have long, sturdy stems and big, beautiful blooms, and each variety has its own tips to keep them healthy. It also can be hard to find the right varieties in sustainable versions. [...]




flower

Grandma's Flower Garden - 3/4 Inch Hexie Quilt - Time Study


As followers may recall, I started hand stitching hexies for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt in March, 2012... three years ago. Watching my friend, Christy, basting sweet, reproduction fabrics around paper forms, making little stacks of 3/4-inch hexagons, I just couldn't resist! These Beadlust posts show the various steps to making the quilt top and the start of  hand-quilting in more detail than this post.

Although I'm still hand-quilting, the end is in sight now. I'm hoping to finish in time for our County Fair in August.

In this post, I thought it might interest you to look at how much time it takes to complete each of the steps in hand piecing and quilting a 3/4" hexie quilt, and the total number of hours involved. I'm basing time estimates for all of the repetitive steps on how long it takes me to do a large number in one sitting, after having practiced... in other words, at my best speed.

Step 1 - Planning the Quilt and Getting Fabrics - time: 20 hours

I decided to make a version of the traditional 1930's Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that is less common than the one with a path or ring around each of the flowers. I chose this design. Note the green hexie leaves, which form a vertical-horizontal grid.


The final size is 72 x 92 inches, a comfortable size for a twin bed, a total of 4,694 hexies. I wanted to use as many different fabrics in this quilt as possible.
  • flowers = 280 different print fabrics with any background color except green or white.
  • leaves = 150 different print fabrics in green
  • flower centers (repeats OK) = 25 different solids
  • double border = 1 print + 1 solid
Although I had collected 30's reproduction fabrics for a few years, I certainly needed more. From a selection of fabrics given to me, fabrics purchased in an eBay auction, and my stash, I found enough to make each of the flowers unique. Although there were not enough greens to make the leaves unique, I had about 60 different green prints, such that each is not repeated more than 3 times in the quilt. So, in the end the quilt includes more than 360 unique fabrics!

Step 2 - Wash and Iron all of the Fabrics - time: 15 hours

Yikes! A few of the fabrics I wanted to use were already washed; most were not. Knowing it should be consistent, and worrying that the reds might bleed, I decided to pre-wash and iron all of the fabrics. Doing this step in stages, as I acquired fabrics, I'm not really sure how long it took, perhaps quite a bit more than the above estimate.

Step 3 - Cutting and Trimming all of the Hexies - time: 28 hours

For each of the  4,694 hexies, I cut a 2" square of fabric, and trimmed off the four corners. Of course, I cut and trimmed in multiples, except for a few that I fussy cut individually. Again, since I did this step in stages, the above time estimate is a bit rough.

Step 4 - Basting the Fabric to the Paper Hexie Forms - time: 235 hours

Once I learned that using YLI quilting thread for basting makes it go much faster than using regular sewing thread, I was able to baste 20 hexies per hour.

Step 5 - Stitching Hexies Together to Make Flowers - time: 105 hours

Averaging 2.5 complete flowers per hour, it took me about two and a half 40-hour-work-weeks to whip-stitch all 238 full and 42 partial flowers. There are 14-17 whip-stitches per 3/4 inch seam.

Step 6 - Stitching a White Hexie Ring Around 130 of the Flowers - time: 130 hours

On average, it takes me 1 hour to whip-stitch 12 white hexies around each flower.

Step 7 - Layout Flowers for Quilt Top; Note Position on Each - time: 4 hours

I didn't fuss too much about the layout, spreading out the flowers randomly, making sure the red ones were evenly spaced, and that no areas were overly dominated by one color. Assigning each row a letter and each position within the row a number, I marked each flower on the back (writing on the center paper piece).

Step 7a - Half Flowers and Double Border All Around - time 90 hours

This is an update, added Feb. 2018. (I can't believe I forgot this important step when writing the original time line.) To make 42 partial flowers to fill in the gaps around the edges of the top, I cut fabrics, basted hexies, joined petals, and then stitched the partials into the gaps. To make the outer border, I made 522 individual hexies, stitched them into rows, and then stitched the rows onto the top.

Step 8 - Sew Flowers into Small Groups - time: 90 hours

To assemble the quilt top, I grouped 8-12 flowers, and whip-stitched them into a solid piece. There were 30 pieces, which took about 3 hours each to complete.

Step 9 - Sew Small Groups Together to Complete Quilt Top - time: 123 hours

I first sewed the small groups into rows, then stitched the rows together. As the sections got larger, the stitching took longer, making it difficult to estimate the time with total accuracy. I did a couple of time tests at different stages of the process in order to figure the above total. I completed this step on March 1st, 2013, one year after basting the first hexie.

Step 10 - Iron/Starch Top, Remove Papers and Basting Stitches - time: 33 hours

Removing all the basting stitches and papers took a lot longer than I would have guessed. But when I look at the pile of basting threads, it begins to make sense.

Step 11 - Assemble Quilt Layers, and Baste - time: 12 hours

Christy and Lunnette helped me layout the back, batting, and top on the floor; then baste in a 4 inch grid. I think we pinned it first, then basted, then removed the pins. On our knees for most of the time, it sure was wonderful to have their help!

Step 10 - Quilt and Embroider the Flower Centers - time: 70 hours

Choosing a floss in a similar color to each flower center, I embroidered a flower. Intentionally, some of the stitches act as quilting stitches, while others slip between the layers and don't show on the back. Around the edges of the quilt, it took about 15 minutes per flower center. Toward the middle of the quilt, it took about 20 minutes per flower center.

Step 11 - Quilt Flower Petals - time: 106 hours

Quilting around the petals of each flower requires turning the quilt 270 degrees for each petal, which is why it takes at least 20 minutes per flower, longer toward the middle of the quilt when the whole weight of the quilt must be constantly shifted. There are 238 whole and 42 partial flowers. I'm figuring an average of 25 minutes per whole and 10 minutes per partial flower.

Step 12 - Quilt Around White Rings - time: 65 hours

Like quilting the flower petals, quilting around the outside edge of each of the 130 white rings requires turning the whole quilt as I work, which adds a lot to the time it takes. I believe quilting the entire top in a diagonal grid of straight lines would take about half the time it takes to follow the curved, zig-zagging path of the hexie flowers, leaves, and rings.

Step 13 - Quilt Around Each of the Leaves - time: 79 hours

Not only does this step require turning the quilt as I stitch 360 degrees around each leaf, it also requires knotting and burying the tail at the start and finish of each leaf. Also I'm changing color of thread to more or less match the fabric color for each set of 4 leaves. Around the edge, it takes about 9 minutes per leaf; toward the center 11 minutes per leaf. There are 474 leaves total, at an average of 10 minutes/leaf.

Step 14 - Assemble Hexies for the Border Facing - time: 37 hours

To face the double (print + blue) border on the back of the quilt requires 522 hexies. To sew them together, forming the border strips, takes about 1 hour per 14 hexies.

Step 15 - Trim Backing and Batting; Blind-stitch Facing to Border - time: 13 hours

There are 264 hexies around the outside edge of the quilt top. Since I have not done this step yet, the time estimate (blind-stitching 20 hexies together per hour) is somewhat rough.

Step 16 - Remove Paper Pieces and Basting from Border and Facing - time: 10 hours

Again, since I have not done this step yet, the time estimate is based on the time it took to remove paper pieces and basting threads from the quilt top.

Step 17 - Blind-stitch Facing to Quilt Back - time: 13 hours

Step 18 - Quilt Around Print Fabric Border - time: 13 hours

Step 19 - Blanket Stitch Around Outside Edge of Quilt - time: 10 hours

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Total Time to Complete Hand-Piecing the Quilt Top: 873 hours

This is equivalent to nearly 20 weeks or 5 months on a 40 hours/week job. It took me a year. Mostly the time flew by as I basted and hand-stitched the little hexies together. Always there was a new print to enjoy, a new stack mounting in size to admire, a growing quilt top to thrill me.

Total Time to Complete Hand-Quilting: 428 hours

Since this job isn't completed yet, the time is only a rough estimate, based on the times it took to do some of the already completed steps. In all, hand quilting will take the equivalent to 10 or 11 weeks of full-time work. I find the quilting rather very boring. After taking a break for more than a year, I started working on it again and hope to be finished by August this year. Audio books are the answer to the tedium for me.

Total Time, Start to Finish: 1,301 hours

With Steps15-19 still to complete, the total is a rough estimate. Still, it is obvious that making a quilt like this, start to finish, requires more than 1,300 hours or the equivalent of over 8 months of full time work. If I were to be paid only minimum wages (2015, Seattle, WA - $11/hr.), the cost of the quilt would be $14,311 + about $500 in materials, or a total of $14,800.  Good thing I intend to keep and use it myself!


UPDATE, July 4, 2016


By June, 2015, I completely finished one corner, an area big enough to photograph so I could submit an entry form to the 2015 La Conner Quilt Festival, sponsored by the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum. On August 7th, 2015, I received notice that it was juried into the show. Wow! That sent me into high gear for sure. After working non-stop, 7 days a week, and an average of 10 hours per day, I inserted my needle into that quilt for the last/final time on Aug. 24th, 2015, just days before delivering it to the museum. It took me 3 years and 3 months, start to finish!


I was surprised, honored, and incredibly pleased to find out it won the Curator's Award of Excellence, one of the top awards, which then qualified it to be shown at the museum for the month following the Festival. Note, the finished size is 71 x 93 inches, and there are 4,700 individual hexagons in it.


Big work for both hands, but sooooo satisfying!


In fact it was so satisfying that I've started another hexie quilt... Can you believe it? So far, I've made 733 hexie flowers for it! Although they are the same size hexies, there are no reproduction fabrics and the arrangement will be anything but traditional. Don't know why I love the hexagon shape so much... but it's certain that I do.




flower

Hexie 2 Report - 733 Hexie Flowers Finished!


I started cutting scraps of fabric to make hexie flowers on September 1, 2015. After 9 months of labor, I have just finished stitching the 733rd flower!  I'll do the math for you... That's 5,131 hexies. They are small ones, 3/4 inch per side. The finished flowers measure just under 4" in diameter.


To give you an idea, this is what 44 hexie flowers look like. In case you don't know, for each hexie, the fabric is cut, and then basted over a paper, hexagon-shaped form. The hexies are then hand-stitched together to make the flowers. It takes about 1 hour to make one hexie flower, start-to-finish; thus 44 hours to make the batch above. Click the photo to see better detail of this process, which is called English paper piecing.


And here are all 733 hexie flowers! Each flower is a different fabric. Although a few of the flower petal fabrics were also used for flower centers, I'm certain that there are over 1,000 different fabrics used in these flowers.

What's next? Well, I'm going to build a design wall using sound-proofing foam-board covered with a king-sized flannel sheet. I haven't quite figured out how to make it yet.

When the design wall is ready, I'll get out my hexie flowers and start to "paint" with them. Who knows what will emerge? Not me. I only have a vague idea that I might want to try "painting" an abstract view of our island shoreline.

When the "painting" process is finished, I'll stitch the flowers together in small groups, and then stitch the groups together. The result, hopefully in my lifetime, will be a queen-sized, non-traditional style, hexie quilt!

Thanks to everybody who shared scraps of fabric for me to use!

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

For those interested, here is a link to a "time study" and photos of my previous hexie quilt, Mama's Garden!




flower

Frida's Flowers - 1 Year Crochet Project - So Much Fun!

 

It All Started with Hexie-lust!


Look back to early 2012, when my dear friend, Christy, started covering little hexagon-shaped bits of card stock with fabric, making stacks of 6 ready to sew together as petals for a hexie flower. While I was working on a beading project, she was making these utterly irresistible stacks of hexies, until finally I succumbed to the temptation, and joined her.


Here is Christy holding a whole bag of covered hexie shapes, made for the pathway around her hexie flowers.


And here I am holding my hexie quilt, showing the final seam of hand stitching needed to complete the quilt top for my hexie quilt, Grandma's Flower Garden.

You'd think that hand-stitching and quilting over 4,000 hexies would be enough for any sane person, right?


Guess I'm not sane, because in 2015 I started another hexie quilt, or as it turns out, a triptych of wall quilts, for which I've completed 733 hexie flowers (which requires 5,131 individual hexies)!

Getting Hooked on Crochet


OK.... so now, I'm finished with hexies, right?  You guessed it! The answer is, "NO WAY." And once again it's Christy's "fault." With her hexie quilt on the back burner for a while, she moved into a crochet phase, making lovely afghans and shawls. She, along with Sabine, my friend in Germany, got me hooked on crochet (pun intended). 


This is the first shawl I made late in 2015, learning and getting comfortable with the hook. 


Then....  the big bang happened...  the crochet-hexie connection!!! This is it.  I saw this picture on Huib Petersen's Facebook page, fell bonkers in love, messaged him to find out about it, and learned that there is a pattern for the flowers online. Click on the above photo of Huib's flowers to see it enlarged... Wouldn't you be a bit inclined to go bonkers over it too???

On June 12, 2016, just one day after seeing his crocheted hexie flowers on Facebook, Christy and I were in Island Wools, our local yarn shop, buying DK-weight, cotton yarn in a dozen colors, ready to begin our own stacks of crocheted hexie flowers!

On a whim, right there in the yarn shop, we decided to keep what we were doing a secret... not to show or tell anybody about our project until we finished our afghans... no blogging or posting on Facebook about it. We didn't even tell Libby or Julie at the yarn shop why we kept ordering more cotton yarn. Our secret-keeping made it all the more fun!

Original Crochet-Along, Frida's Flowers


According to Huib, the instructions for his flowers came from a Stylecraft, Crochet-Along, called Frida's Flowers, staring an original pattern by Jane Crowfoot.


This is a photo from the instructions, showing the finished afghan, which includes several identical flowers in each of 2 simple and 5 complex designs. All of the designs are are multi-colored and textural, with raised flower parts, enough to make us drool!

Bored with making 6 identical flowers - Colors calling us!


Our plan was to get together at my house every Sunday afternoon to crochet hexie flowers, each of us completing enough flowers to make an afghan. In a little over a year of working 4-6 hours nearly every Sunday and some Tuesday evenings as well, we each had completed 39 flower blocks and 6 half-flower blocks, and were ready to crochet them together.


Ooops... I'm getting ahead of myself with this story.  We began with this block, called Rosa, which was the 3rd block in the overall design. (Blocks 1 and 2 are the more simple ones with a small central bud and plain background). This one is the easiest of the full flower designs.

But, for both of us, it was difficult, as there were several stitches we didn't know. Thanks to Youtube videos, we were able to learn them. However, after making two flowers each in the pattern colors, partially out of boredom and partly because of the influence of Huib's multi-color, no-two-the-same flowers, we decided to pick our own colors, making only a pair in each colorway. This, of course, caused us both to buy a lot more colors of yarn... oh for fun!


After making 6 each of Blocks 3 and 4, mine looked like this. Christy's color choices are different... enough different that our finished afghans may look like sisters, but definitely not like identical twins.



I started looking at flower catalogs to find new color combinations... and both of us were buying yarn like crazy.  Some brands have more that 50 color choices in DK-weight cotton. I admit to spending over two hundred dollars on yarn all-in-all, with some remainders for future projects. Never mind the cost... I adore all the colors.

Designing Our Afghans


Early in the process, both Christy and I decided we wanted to make something more like Huib's, with a random or nearly random placement of the blocks. Plus, we wanted it to be a bit bigger than the 31-block original design.


Also, we didn't want to include any of the more simple blocks, except as modified half-blocks for the sides.

A year went by, with the two of us continually challenged, thoroughly enjoying the process of making our blocks. Then it was time to lay them all out!


Almost at once, it was clear that the flowers needed more space, more black around each one to set them off. So, before crocheting them together, we bought more skeins of black yarn, and added a row of double crochet around each of the blocks. This also would add a bit more to the size of the afghans, making them large enough to cover both arms and legs while watching a good movie on a winter's evening.


Here is my finished arrangement, the hexie flower blocks crocheted together with a slip-stitch, awaiting a border. Although the original design included a border that would have worked OK, by then I was flying solo, wanting a border I could call my own.  


After some experimentation, trial-and-error, crochet and un-ravel attempts, this is my final border invention, which includes the "popcorn" stitch, central to many of the flowers. It was challenging to figure out how to crochet the increases and decreases necessary for the zig-zag edges on the sides, and still keep it flat. Again, trial-and-error was part of the process.


Here is my almost-finished afghan, my own version of Frida's Flowers, showing the size!

Entering at the San Juan County Fair


As we neared completion, we faced a moral dilemma, a difficult decision. We both enjoy submitting entries at our local San Juan County Fair each year, especially in the Fiber and Textile Arts Divisions. These entries are judged and eligible to win ribbons and cash prizes. In previous years, there haven't been many crocheted items entered, nothing that has won any of the top awards.

We figured our afghans could be "game changers," that they had a chance of winning. But we didn't like the idea of being in competition with each other for the top awards, the Best of Class and the Best of Show. If we both entered, neither quilt would win a top award, or one would win and the other wouldn't (which might be the worst outcome). So, after some heartfelt discussions, we decided I would enter mine this year, and she would delay finishing hers until later so that it would be eligible to enter next year.


Here's what happened...  Best of Class and Viewer's Choice for me in 2017!!!! And hopefully, the same will happen next year for Christy's version. Twelve months from now, I know for sure all the attendees will have forgotten my quilt, and will love seeing Christy's flowers, just as they did mine this year!





flower

Songs About Flowers: Exploring The Vast Melodic Garden

Within the vast musical landscape, songs dedicated to flowers have blossomed as lyrical tributes to the natural wonders that captivate and inspire. The countless compositions celebrating the beauty and symbolism of flowers highlight their enduring allure and universal appeal. In this article, we embark on a detailed exploration of the world of songs about flowers, ... Read more

The post Songs About Flowers: Exploring The Vast Melodic Garden appeared first on Star Two.




flower

‘Red Flower’ copes with the carnage in Sderot


Also available is the docudrama One Day in October on Yes TV, by Daniel Finkelman and Oded Davidoff, which offers dramatized versions of four stories from October 7.




flower

Bees Drink Nectar From a Coffee Flower

Honeybees get a caffeine buzz and memory boost when they drink coffee nectar




flower

How the Osage Changed Martin Scorsese’s Mind About "Killers of the Flower Moon"

A true-life saga involving organized crime, racial prejudice, and evolving American identity, David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I. seemed at first glance like a perfect fit for Martin Scorsese, the beloved filmmaker whose dozens of critically adored movies include Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, and The Departed. But when Jim Gray, a former chief of the Osage Nation, and other Osage leaders invited the filmmaker to Oklahoma to hear their concerns about his new project, Scorsese came. Scorsese listened. And then he rewrote and reconfigured Killers of the Flower Moon from soup to nuts, with a result that has earned a rapturous response from Native viewers like Gray and journalist Sandra Hale Schulman, and from the broader critical community, too. The movie opens in theatres tomorrow and will appear on the Apple+ streaming service before the end of the year. In this episode, Schulman walks me through a brief history of how Native Americans have been depicted in a century’s worth of movies. Then, Chief Gray tells me about his personal connection to Killers of the Flower Moon, the pattern of Native American erasure from national discourse, and how he and his colleagues persuaded Scorsese to rethink the new movie. A transcript of this episode can be found here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/how-the-osage-changed-martin-scorseses-mind-180983094smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/how-the-osage-changed-martin-scorseses-mind-180983094) . Sandra’s Smithsonian story about Native representation in cinema is here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-native-representation-in-film-180983043/) . You can learn more about Sandra and her work at her site (http://www.sandraschulman.com/) . Dennis McAuliffe Jr.’s The Deaths of Sybil Bolton: An American History, which Chief Gray cites as formative in this episode, is here (https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Sybil-Bolton-American-History/dp/081292150X) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.




flower

The Descendants: Neikoye Flowers as David Miles Moore Jr

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA